A Lott of Trouble.

With some lexis-nexis searches establishing a dubious pattern in Trent Lott’s rhetoric, even Dubya’s piling on now. For his part, Lott’s decided to try the contrition route to see if he can save his seniority. I’d say at this point it’s probably better for the Dems to have him around, just as an ever-present reminder of exactly who the GOP likes to cater to.

Walking-Around Money.

Oh great. NOW they start paying political appointees huge bonuses, despite both the recent raise freeze and impending job cuts for career government workers. Where was the love when I was at the FCC? Oh, that’s right – the Clinton administration didn’t indulge in this type of ridiculous cronyism. But nest-feathering patronage remains alive and well under Andy Card, just as it did ten years ago.

Freedom of Disinformation.

Also courtesy of Looka, John Ashcroft is encouraging Justice Department lawyers to evade — or break — the Freedom of Information Act whenever possible. How frighteningly typical of our Attorney General…you gotta wonder at this point if he dresses up like Judge Dredd when nobody’s looking.

Kerry steps out.

Democratic hopeful John Kerry bashes Dubya’s tax plan, and makes the case for payroll tax cuts instead. Nice move…payroll tax reduction isn’t only smart policy, it puts the GOP in an unhappy position – explaining why they’re suddenly against tax cuts that help average Americans at the expense of corporations.

Stoner Math.

If our new Ministry of Information is run with half the honesty and integrity of our ONDCP, it looks like everything will end up just swimmingly. Turns out Dubya’s drug czar grossly misrepresented marijuana potency several times in order to help bury the recent Nevada referendum.